AleisterCrowley wrote:Likewise, doesn't happen in Shropshire unless you consider the landed gentry to be an offshoot of the Mafia (and they are mostly benign)

My then wife, small kids, and in-laws once steam trained northish from near Manchester to a hilly country village where we went for a walk along a footpath. We turned right down a track on fairly open land in the bow of a river instead of left. We were accosted by an armed and aggressive farmer that made it clear we should all f off back to where we came from. Totally unpleasant way of "helping" us back to the footpath. It was a genuine mistake and we weren't traipsing through a field or near fishermen or anything.

So whilst I don't recognize the Mafia like nature of village life I do believe there are some thoroughly nasty landed types. C.

But most farmers don't own their land, they're tenants simply trying to work it for a living. Veering off a footpath is trespassing, akin a bunch of random strangers appearing in your garden and then claiming they 'sort of have a right to be there'.

To update we have accepted an offer on our house, and had an offer accepted on a house in Monmouthshire. This is perfect for us as the location is beautiful, close to the hospitals, and not too far from family in England. We are now very excited to start a new chapter in Wales.

The biggest impact so far was finding out this week that we get the pleasure of paying the new Welsh Land Tax. That was a bit of a surprise as the mortgage broker, bank, and solicitors had all neglected to mention this, and had just listed the usual stamp duty costs, rather than the, in our case, much higher land tax. Our renovation budget is thus somewhat dented before we even started.

Fingers crossed the sale/purchase malarkey all goes through smoothly, and from next month you'll find me active on the building & diy forum

I have come to the conclusion that Mrs H and I live in the ideal location for us.

This came home to me again yesterday when staying in a very nice cottage on the edge of the Cotswolds. We'd paid in advance for three nights and had met friends for lunch, visited Rousham Gardens, Kelmscott Manor and Buscot Park (super gardens and house). After the second night, I got bored and asked my wife if she wanted to go home early. The thought of sitting in our own garden and strolling round our own village was just too attractive, so we packed up and drove back to Hampshire.

Today it has been bliss - home sweet home!

regards

Howard

PS one of the hazards of the Cotswolds was the number of horrendous potholes on the A and B roads. Having the now commonplace low profile tyres it was essential to keep swerving to avoid two or three inch-deep potholes in the middle of the carriageway. Even at relatively low speeds hitting one would have damaged a tyre. We must have avoided literally hundreds in two days of driving.

Howard wrote:PS one of the hazards of the Cotswolds was the number of horrendous potholes on the A and B roads. Having the now commonplace low profile tyres it was essential to keep swerving to avoid two or three inch-deep potholes in the middle of the carriageway. Even at relatively low speeds hitting one would have damaged a tyre. We must have avoided literally hundreds in two days of driving.

Ah yes, the potholes. I've never known a pothole season like this one down in south Gloucestershire/western Cotswolds. The 44 tonners are really chewing up the twisty Fosseway, which was designed for carts and the occasional Roman legion, and some of which has never had any proper foundations. And I think the councils in Gloucs and Wilts have been badly squeezed for road maintenance cash - well, either that, or they've just decided to see how long they can go without being forced to do anything? I'm quite surprised that anybody still dares to ride a motorbike in Clarkson/Hammond country. I'm not sure I would, or not for fun anyway.

Mind you, it's easy to forget how harsh and wet the winters can be in such a lovely part of England - the Cotswold hills are ideally placed to scoop up the Atlantic weather and scrape all the water out of every cloud that comes along. The Mendips likewise, but those are less heavily populated and don't get the enormous tourist traffic to cope with.

Hampshire's nice, and leafy too, but golly, it's a bit flat by comparison.

Howard wrote:I have come to the conclusion that Mrs H and I live in the ideal location for us.

regards

Howard%

PS one of the hazards of the Cotswolds was the number of horrendous potholes on the A and B roads. Having the now commonplace low profile tyres it was essential to keep swerving to avoid two or three inch-deep potholes in the middle of the carriageway. Even at relatively low speeds hitting one would have damaged a tyre. We must have avoided literally hundreds in two days of driving.

Love it here - I came here as a student in '88 and always wanted to return. I've been working from home since '15 and should have done it before. Dundee is not far away and has Nine Wells hospital. The weather here is pretty good, it's cold (must be, on average, a degree colder than Cheshire was) but it's one of the driest and sunniest parts of Scotland. Schools are pretty good.

wheypat wrote:I moved from Cheshire to North East Fife last year - St Andrews

Love it here - I came here as a student in '88 and always wanted to return. I've been working from home since '15 and should have done it before. Dundee is not far away and has Nine Wells hospital. The weather here is pretty good, it's cold (must be, on average, a degree colder than Cheshire was) but it's one of the driest and sunniest parts of Scotland. Schools are pretty good.

Paying more tax of course!

Actually the Hospital is called Ninewells but no matter. It has a huge financial deficit but so far it does not seem to be affecting the service provided. I know the area well.

The biggest drawback to St Andrews (I had lunch there last week) is the access to it. Unless approaching from the Tay Bridge, I have always found Fife difficult. On the broader issues, the biggest general problem is the SNP Government and its petty mindedness on many issues.

wheypat wrote:I moved from Cheshire to North East Fife last year - St Andrews

Love it here - I came here as a student in '88 and always wanted to return. I've been working from home since '15 and should have done it before. Dundee is not far away and has Nine Wells hospital. The weather here is pretty good, it's cold (must be, on average, a degree colder than Cheshire was) but it's one of the driest and sunniest parts of Scotland. Schools are pretty good.

Paying more tax of course!

Actually the Hospital is called Ninewells but no matter. It has a huge financial deficit but so far it does not seem to be affecting the service provided. I know the area well.

The biggest drawback to St Andrews (I had lunch there last week) is the access to it. Unless approaching from the Tay Bridge, I have always found Fife difficult. On the broader issues, the biggest general problem is the SNP Government and its petty mindedness on many issues.

Dod

I don't find it that bad to get to. From the south it's all motorway/dual carriageway now from the Queensferry crossing to north of Glenrothes and then it's quiet roads into town. Edinburgh airport is just over an hour which is the other main place I need to get to, so it's OK.

I am not knocking it and I am glad you enjoy St Andrews. My daughter has a holiday house at Elie and I suspect that would probably be my preference, but again approaching from the North West I find it a real pain to get to.

Paultry wrote:It is true, Bath has many pleasant qualities, but commuter traffic is now becoming overwhelming.

I live in Bath and I do feel it has 'jumped the shark' as a place to live, parking issues, overcrowding in the centre, litter, poor water quality, poor air quality and a surprising amount of noise pollution: ambulance sirens and out of tune church bells during the day, general traffic noise, and then drunk people shouting at night.I stayed with some friends in London recently and was surprised how quiet it is there.The council are about to double all the parking charges next month so we will see what effect that has.

Paultry wrote:It is true, Bath has many pleasant qualities, but commuter traffic is now becoming overwhelming.

I live in Bath and I do feel it has 'jumped the shark' as a place to live, parking issues, overcrowding in the centre, litter, poor water quality, poor air quality and a surprising amount of noise pollution: ambulance sirens and out of tune church bells during the day, general traffic noise, and then drunk people shouting at night.

I've lived around Bath for nearly forty years now, but living in the city centre would drive me crazy. Noise, traffic, parking. Fortunately we live in one of the pleasant outlying villages, which means that you get the best of most worlds as long as you don't need a mobile phone signal that works. (We can't even get 2G on a reliable basis.) And they tell me that parts of Bath itself can't get DAB radio because the famous seven hills block the line-of-sight reception.....

The surrounding hills are also part of the traffic problem. In a sane world, they'd have built a bypass round Bath fifty years ago, but because of the hills they don't have anywhere to run the roads. So you get massive lorries mixing it in town with the tourist traffic, and the overloaded roads just can't cope. This morning I had to drive six miles from the Wiltshire fringes to Weston in the west. Took me an hour and a half. And they keep on planning to put an (essential) park and ride on the east of the city, but the eco-nimbys keep on killing the idea. Grrrr.

OTOH, Bath itself is still a delightful place. Wander down Southgate or Milsom Street, and there are thousands of people out there having a nice time. And the bars and restaurants and arts are excellent. I can't ever remember anywhere else that's come anywhere close.